We started the week off at Abebech Gobena Foundation. Abebech started the foundation as an orphanage. Over 35 years ago she traveled with her husband to slums and refugee areas in the Northern Ethiopia during the draught and famine.  She came home with 2 children, who she adopted and raised as her own. She saw the need to help children and started an orphanage in her backyard. She divorced her husband and devoted her life to helping those in her community. The orphanage is still running but is now a last resort. The foundation works to find distant relatives of the children or foster care families before placing the children in the orphanage. Once the children reach the age of 18 they are offered pocket money if they attend university, with their tuition covered by the government, or they are offered start up money and skills training if they choose to not attend university. The foundation also runs a local community school, a hospital, agriculture projects in Northern Ethiopia, and a training program for at risk woman. The training program is a 6 month program where woman are offered courses and training that they can use to gain employment and get off the streets. We were also very fortunate enough to meet the founder, Abebech Gobena.  Although she is in her late 80’s she lives on the property of the orphanage and goes into the office every day. It was an amazing opportunity to meet the woman who has devoted her life to children.

“Children are the building blocks of the future.  One person can make a difference, and everyone should try”

  

We were given a tour of all of the facilities and were amazed. Within walking distance there is a school, hospital, training facility, cafe, and the orphanage. The school has over 500 students from grades 1-6. While not only offering the students an education, the school has a meal program where it ensures that each students has sufficient nutrition. We were given a tour of the school facilities but students were off on summer break so we unfortunately did not have an opportunity to observe or teach any classes.

 

The orphanage was a highlight of our trip. The children were so welcoming and adorable. They sang songs with us and for us. And were excited to have the opportunity to play with us. It was difficult to leave.

 

This week we also had the opportunity to visit an organization called Youth for Christ. The guesthouse we have been staying at houses many educators from around the world who are teaching, in some capacity, in Ethiopia. We met a wonderfully kind woman from Australia named Jane. She is a former math teacher who now works with YFC all over the world.  We began our day meeting all of the staff at YFC and taking some time to get to know everyone. We had a morning English lesson with Messi, a 15 year old girl who has had a tough life but has persevered and is amazing, and Tazede, the 20 year old gatekeeper at YFC who has big dreams and an infectious smile. The lesson was interesting. We spent time playing games and engaging in one on one lessons. It was interesting to work with older students. Both M & T were very interested in the lesson and although they were at different levels – the lesson catered to both of them sufficiently. Before lunch we met another little girl named Elsa. She was very sweet and was amazed with the feel of our hair. YFC also runs an after school program for street kids. Because schools are on summer break, the kids started trickling in earlier than normal after lunch time. I spent the afternoon playing games, teaching grammar lessons, and interacting with the students. Throughout the afternoon, T asked me many questions. He wasn’t always interested in my answer or understood my answer, but was so proud of himself for asking the questions in English and well enough that I was able to understand and respond. It has a day well spent and offered me insight into the benefits of various programs outside of the ‘regular’ classroom.

We also took time to visit local markets and cultural location, say goodbye to the friends we had made and thank the university and dean for welcoming us. The week went by so quickly and before we knew it it was over and we were off on our next adventure to Tanzania.